Wireless access networks are providing increasingly fast packet-data connections for client devices using air-interface protocols such as WiMAX and 1xEV-DO. As a result, client devices such as cellular telephones, mp3 players, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), among others, are able to access data content of ever-increasing quality, including higher-quality content that was previously unavailable to such devices due to the bandwidth constraints of wireless access networks.
In wireless access networks, bandwidth is typically a scarce resource as compared to most wire-line networks, the availability of which may change dynamically. More specifically, as a result of variable fading and shadowing that typically occurs in wireless access networks, the network resources that are available for communications may change dynamically. Each client device may therefore experience a different and unique air interface, with varying RF signal quality depending on the location of the client device. The variability of the traffic load in an access network may further contribute to the variability of signal quality experienced in wireless access networks. Due to the variability of wireless service, the traffic bit-error rate may be significantly higher over wireless links, as compared to landline or wireline links.